SAO: Alternate Fairy Dance Arc
by Eternalangel15
Summary: Alternate story of SAO: Fairy Dance Arc where Asuna was the one who woke up instead of Kirito leaving her to pick up the pieces to save him. (Disclaimer: Sword Art Online does not belong to me)
1. Chapter 1

I opened the door to the hospital room and walked in closing the door behind me. I would come here almost everyday just to see 'him' hoping that it might be the day that you he would wake up. It never was, but I still came. It was mostly for my sake though.

I took a few steps and saw the bed that carried a young comatose boy. He was sleeping peacefully as if he was in a blissful dream, but I knew better. His mind was still trapped due to the machine that was bound to his head: the NerveGear

I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I made a promise to him that I wouldn't cry whenever I saw his comatose body. Instead I would give him a smile hoping that he would wake up so that we could get back on track with our lives.

I sat down on the chair that was next to the bed placing my bag down on the floor and gave the boy a warm smile, "hello Kirito-kun."

There was no response from Kirito and yet I still carried on with the conversation, "I'm so stressed Kirito-kun. My mother says that I should stop visiting you..." I glanced down at the ground now looking sad, "she said that you're never going to wake up and that I should just forget about you..."

That conversation was still fresh in my mind. I was about to leave my house to walk to the hospital that Kirito was residing in when my mother stopped me in the way. She insisted that I should stop visiting a boy that was never going to wake up. Even if he did, he would only love me for the money. I was infuriated by my mother and told her that she didn't know the real Kirito unlike how I did. After that, I walked out of my house rather rudely not looking back to see my mother's reaction.

I knew why my mother told me this though. She disliked that I had feelings for a boy that was pretty much half dead. And one that wasn't even the same social status that my family was. No, my mother wanted me to have feelings for another guy. A certain guy who I knew was a venomous tyrant.

The guy that my mother wanted me to have feelings for was a certain man called Sugou Nobuyuki. Sugou was practically family to my parents. After all, he appeared like a polite, good natured man. But I saw under his mask when I first met him. No Sugou was a filthy, dirty man who didn't deserve the kindness my parents showed towards him.

My parents had actually made Sugou my fiancée before the accident (as they now call it). But I called it off when I talked to my father about Kirito a few weeks after I had woken up.

When I had woken up, I made it my mission to search for Kirito, otherwise known as Kirigaya Kazuto in the real world. But I knew I couldn't do it alone, so I asked my father to help me locate Kirito. At first, my father was skeptical about this, but after I had told him all the events that had happened in SAO concerning about me and Kirito's relationship, he reconsidered.

My father wasn't surprised when I told him to call off the engagement to Sugou. I think he knew it would happened after learning about what Kirito meant to me. But it still didn't mean Sugou was not part of the family anymore. My father still showed towards him trust which I pretty sure Sugou was laughing at in mockery.

I blinked finding myself looking at Kirito again. I still couldn't forget that fateful day when SAO was finally cleared. That day was still clear in my mind: the battle with Heatcliff, me dying, Kirito and me watching Aincrad being deleted, our conversation with Akihiko Kayaba, and our promise. How could I forget those things?

My throat felt dry and yet I still wanted to talk to Kirito, "Kirito-kun, I'm getting a lot better now. I don't need a wheelchair anymore. The doctors said that I'll be back to my old self pretty soon..."

I wanted to say that with a smile, but I couldn't. While I'll be walking around back to my usual self, Kirito would still be here in a coma. He would be still trapped in his mind while I would be here free. But I didn't want that. I wanted Kirito to be here free alongside me.

I remembered the day when Kirito was located learning a sickening truth. He had not woken up like I did. In fact, three hundred other SAO victims including Kirito had not woken up. People were saying it was due to a bug, but I didn't think that was the reason. Akihiko Kayaba promised that everyone would be free, so why weren't the rest of SAO victims free? It just didn't make any sense.

I found myself lifting my hand from my lap to Kirito cupping mine to his. His hand was ice cold. There was no warmth in it unlike mine. I clung to his hand even tighter just wanting the warmth from my hand to go into his even though I knew this wasn't possible.

The NerveGear bound to his head kept this from being possible. The NerveGear disconnected all five of his senses from the real world: touch, hear, smell, taste, and sight. Even if I did touch him, Kirito wouldn't feel the warmth from my hand.

"Kirito-kun..." I said quietly, "I miss you... Please... Please come back to me..."

I clutched his hand a little tighter ignoring how white my hand was becoming. I didn't care how desperate I may have sounded like to people or how stupid I was to keep believing that he would wake up. All I truly wanted was Kirito to be back amongst the living. Back with his friends and family. Back with me.

I glanced at the clock nearby and sadly looked back at Kirito still sleeping peacefully on the bed. It was time for me to leave. Lisbeth had talked me into going Christmas shopping with her after my visit with Kirito. At first I thought against it, but I knew Lisbeth was just trying to make me feel better. She knew about how much Kirito meant to me. After all, she was my best friend.

So I said yes. After telling her yes, Lisbeth told me to meet her at a spot and we'll look for gifts. Before leaving, she also told me that she'll have a special surprise waiting for me. I didn't know what she was talking about, but I knew it was surprise that was suppose to cheer me up.

I grabbed my bag from the floor and have one last smile to Kirito, "I have to go Kirito-kun, but I'll be back tomorrow."

I stared at him for a few seconds before whispering two words that I knew he wouldn't even hear, "I promise."

I turned and left the room closing the door behind me. I walked down the empty hallway to the elevator ignoring how much the silence wanted to make me cuddle into a ball and cry for him. I entered the elevator and pushed the down button causing it to cringed before making me feel like I was falling.

I stared at the closed elevator door going over thoughts in my head. Christmas was coming and I wouldn't be able to spend it with Kirito. It caused my heart to hurt thinking about that. I was out here about to have a Christmas in the real world that I couldn't have for two years while Kirito was still trapped in his own mind. What was worse was that he was going to spend Christmas alone.

I heard a ding and lifted my head to see the elevator's doors opening. I walked out of the elevator and continued walking to the front desk. There sitting at the desk quietly typing on a computer was a nurse. She looked up at me from the computer and nodded returning to her work.

Everyone at the hospital knew who I was since I came almost every day to see Kirito. They learned to know who I would be seeing and practically didn't asked me any questions when I come. After all, they wanted to leave a hopeless girl who was chasing a dream that was bound to die alone. It was all that could do.

I left my pass on the desk and turned walking out of the small hospital to outside. It was chilly and the wind was a little strong. I wrapped my arms around me exhaling. I could see a small cloud of air coming from my nose. I stared at it as it disappeared. It simply was just too cold for me.

I looked to my left and started my way to the spot Lisbeth had wanted to meet me at. Although I wasn't in the mood to go shopping, I didn't want my friend to feel bad. Besides, I had nothing else to do today. Maybe Christmas shopping would help me cheer up. After all, I still had a Christmas gift to pick out for Kirito.


	2. Chapter 2

I stopped in front of the store Lisbeth had told me to meet her at. Taped on the windows were many signs offering great bargains for the holiday season. I stared at them trying to decide if those would really benefit me.

"Asuna!"

I lifted my head and turned to my right to see Lisbeth running towards me. Her real name in the real world was Shinozaki Rika. 'Lisbeth' was her name in the game world. Lisbeth was my best friend whom I had met in SAO. She was a friendly person with dark brown hair that came up to her neck. On both sides of her hair were two hairpins that kept her bangs out of her eyes. Lisbeth's eyes were dark brown and below them were tiny freckles.

I had met Lisbeth in SAO when I was looking for a new weapon of choice. I wanted a weapon that would feel natural in my hand. So I started looking around for a weapon shop when I happened to bump into Lisbeth who was a blacksmith in the world of SAO. She agreed to make me a high quality weapon of choice as long as I took her to get the necessary materials. We got along so very well along the trip. When we got back to where Lisbeth's workshop was located at, she forged me a rapier. From that point on, until the destruction of Aincrad, she decided to become an exclusive blacksmith just for me. She also became my best friend.

Lisbeth stopped in front of me taking deep breaths. She exhaled and inhaled for a few seconds before turning and calling out in a loud voice to the empty street, "hurry up Suguha!"

I blinked to see a girl with short black hair and dark grey eyes appearing from the corner running as fast as she could towards us. The girl was none other than Kirigaya Suguha, Kirito's sister.

I had only just met Suguha a month ago and come to known how much Kirito meant to her too. When Kirito was trapped in SAO along with me and all the other victims, she always made her way to come to the hospital to watch over him hoping that it would be the day he would wake up. Now I was doing the same thing she was doing for Kirito.

I met Suguha when I had met her mother, Kirigaya Midoria, to ask for permission to see Kirito when he was located. At first Kirigaya-san was wary of me after hearing rumors of the PK guild, Laughing Coffin, that killed many people in SAO. But after talking about who I was, how I met Kirito, and what he meant to me Kirigaya-san gave me permission. After our conversation, I got introduced to Sugaha who instantly became friends with me. She understood from what I had told her about the events that took place in SAO and welcomed me as family. It was almost as if Suguha knew what I went through even though she wasn't there in person.

Suguha stopped in front of me and Lisbeth and bent down taking deep breaths before looking back at us with a cute childish look that was tired. She puffed her cheeks and opened her mouth saying, "Rika-san, I told you to wait for me."

Lisbeth waved her hand rather lazily at Suguha. "I told you we were already late and that we didn't want to make Asuna wait any longer. Right Asuna?" Said Lisbeth as she winked at me.

I stared at Suguha wondering why she was here. I didn't remember Lisbeth saying she was going to bring Suguha. "Suguha?" I asked confused.

Lisbeth gave a tiny hint of a smile. "Asuna, Suguha is the surprise I told you about. I figured bringing her along since she knew what Kirito-san might want for Christmas."

Suguha nodded and gave me a big smile greeting me, "hello Asuna-san. How is onii-chan?"

I glanced down sadly tracing back to my visit with Kirito and answered, "he's still the same..."

"I see..." I heard in response from Suguha. I lifted my head to see Suguha trying to pull on a brave smile even though I knew she really wanted to frown. "I'm sure he'll wake up soon though."

"Yeah," said Lisbeth as she too gave me a smile, "Kazuto will come back to us. After all, he's the hero who cleared SAO. Waking up from a coma will be a piece of cake for him."

I gave a tiny smile to Lisbeth and Suguha. I knew what they were doing and I appreciated it. "Thank you..."

Both Lisbeth and Suguha gave me a big smile showing me how much they cared for me. Lisbeth knew about my relationship with Kirito and understood what I was going through. Even though I haven't known Suguha that long, she too knew how badly I was taking the situation.

"So..." Said Lisbeth as she placed her hands on her hips, "what are we waiting out here in the cold for? We have some shopping to get taken care of."

Lisbeth took both mine and Suguha's hand and led us to inside the store. We walked inside to see a many people around shopping. In front of us was a sign telling us which section of the store had what item. Lisbeth stared at it for a while before pointing her finger at me and Suguha saying, "Suguha, you go with Asuna to the section that has what Kazuto likes. I'll go to this side."

Lisbeth pointed at a section that had a variety of ornaments and said, "I have to look for a gift for my mom. Let's meet back here after we find the gifts we're looking for."

Lisbeth then waved her hand and turned disappearing into the crowd. I looked back at Suguha seeing that she was staring at the section that held many kinds of technology. She turned and smiled saying, "follow me."

I nodded and followed Suguha. Along the way, Suguha asked me a question, "are you okay Asuna-san?"

I glanced at her confused, "what do you mean?"

"I noticed that you've been sad. And I know why, but you're not the type of person who should stay sad..."

I stopped walking finding myself staring at Suguha intensely. Even though she wasn't Lisbeth, she too saw past my mask. After all, it made sense since I was going through what she practically went through during the SAO incident. She knew what emotions I was going through: hopelessness, guilt, and sorrow.

"Onii-chan is strong..." Whispered Suguha sadly as she wrapped her arms around her, "I'm sure he'll wake up. After all, he has you to come back to..."

"Suguha..."

Suguha shook her head keeping her head down to the ground. "Before the SAO incident, onii-chan would always ignore me and try to close himself away from me. I had thought it was because he had wanted to be alone, but it wasn't until last year did I learned the truth..."

Suguha glanced up at me with tears clearly visible in her eyes. "Onii-chan isn't my real brother. He's my cousin who was adopted by my family when his parents died. That's why he ignored me and choose to close himself away."

Suguha tried wiping her tears away, but more kept coming. I actually didn't know about what Suguha had just told me until now. But now I understood why she was in so much pain.

Without even realizing what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around Suguha and gave her a hug. To her ears, I whispered, "Kazuto-kun would never try to purposely harm you. Even though he distanced himself away from you before the incident, I'm sure once he wakes up, he'll reestablished those connections with you."

I didn't care if people were looking at us. Like me, Suguha carried a broken heart that needed to be mended. Although our reasons for being in pain were different, we still were burden with the same emotions. And just like how Suguha was trying to help me, I wanted to help her.

I released Suguha from my grasp seeing her with red cheeks. She silently wiped her tears away from her eyes and gave me a warm smile that I understood was her way of thanking me. "Thank you Asuna-san."

I smiled. "It's no problem. We just need to release our feelings every once a while. Even someone like me."

Suguha modded and took my hand guiding me to a section that had many different kinds of tech for computers. I stared at them slightly confused trying to get a sense what each of them exactly were. Suguha noticed my confusion and simply laughed. She pointed at what each technology were and what they were called.

She then told me why Kirito would be interested in technology for computers. Kirito had always had a love for technology. It turned out that he built his own computer when he was only seven. His love for technology was what defined Kirito in many ways.

After finding what Kirito would like for Christmas, Suguha led me back to Lisbeth who had found a gift for her mother: a special glass ornament with snowflakes on it. We then paid for them and left the store back to outside. We walked down the sidewalk away from the store ignoring the cold while talking about many things.

For a few minutes, it almost felt like that the heavy weight of pain that has us deep in its clutches never did. That Kirito was awake and getting used to the real world along with us. But after separating from Lisbeth and Suguha, the pain pierced my heart too soon like lighting.

This was realty and the fact was that Kirito was still in a coma. Even if I didn't want to believe that, the truth still was there. Just like with Suguha, I wanted to so badly help Kirito. But how could I when I couldn't even reach him?


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks so much for the kind reviews. They make me smile and want to type even more ideas that invade my mind. Please know that I pay closely attention to each review and follow your ideas to make this story even better. So thanks and read on.**

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><p>I walked to my yard and glanced up at the house that stood in front of me. It was a large house that looked quite comfortable. It was something that most people who visited weren't even surprised about. After all, my parents were quite rich.<p>

I walked to the front door to the house and opened it walking in quietly. To my surprise, no one was at the door waiting for me. Not even my mother who I was sure was still pretty steamed with me. I quickly decided that something was up.

I entered the living room to see my father talking to a person sitting on a chair across from my father. The man's back was turned towards me, so I couldn't see his face. My father looked up and waved at me smiling. "Asuna, it's good to see you back well. How was your visit?"

I wanted to say more, but my mouth wouldn't let me. Instead, I simply replied, "it was fine father. He's still the same."

My father nodded sadly then glanced at the person whose back was still turned to me. "Oh where are my manners. Asuna, this is Kikoika Seijirou, a representative of the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force," said my father as he directed his hand towards Seijirou, "Seijirou, this is my daughter, Asuna."

The man stood up and finally turned his back allowing me to get a good look at him. His dark black hair and his eyes that were under his glasses made him look like any other well-respected man. But the look he was giving me from his eyes told me something else. He was curious. He wanted information from me. The question was what information did he wanted?

Seijirou smiled and politely introduced himself to me. "Hello Asuna-san, my name is Kikoika Seijirou, as your father just said, I am indeed a representative of the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force."

I remembered once my father talking about this group over the phone to someone. He had asked them if they could help locate Kirito. They did, but for a payment that I couldn't vaguely hear. All my father said was yes and ended the conversation. I still didn't know what the payment was to this day and yet I still didn't know if I even wanted to know about it.

"Anyway, Asuna, Seijirou here came to see you. He wanted to ask you questions if that is okay with you," said my father interrupting my train of thoughts.

"Questions?" I asked.

"Yes," said Seijirou as he looked over at my father and nodded. My father nodded back and left the room closing the door behind him.

Seijirou glanced back at me and sat down on the chair, "please Asuna-san, sit down. I will not hurt you. I can promise you that."

I stared at Seijirou trying to understand what just happened. It almost seemed like my father knew what this man wanted from me and completely agreed with him. Taking Seijirou's offer, I sat down on the chair across from him waiting to see what he exactly had to say.

"Kazuto-kun still hasn't woken up? Am I correct?" Asked Seijirou.

I only nodded trying to hold my tongue that wanted to bluntly ask questions to Seijirou.

Seijirou sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. You see. I wanted to ask him many questions about SAO, but since he's not in the state to answer questions, I'll just have to go to the second winner of SAO. Which would be you Asuna-san."

"What do you exactly want to know about SAO?"

"Everything," replied Seijirou, "from the beginning to the end. I want to know what happened during the first day of the launch of SAO to the last battle that granted your escape."

"I don't have to answer your questions," I said, "it's my choice on whether I want to or not."

"Yes, that is true," said Seijirou using his hand to fix his glasses, "but you owe me. After all, how did you think you were able to find Kazuto-kun's whereabouts."

"What? What do you mean? I thought-"

"You father asked for my help. Even though your father is the president of a large CEO company, he couldn't have possibly located one boy from millions of people."

"Which is why he came to me. I said I would find him as long as your father gave me something in return."

"Which was?" I asked.

"A chance to speak to you to gather information. People have asked questions Asuna-san and they want to know what really happened. Apart from Kazuto-kun, you're the only one who I know who was able to see everything to the end. So tell me, what happened?"

I stared at Seijirou trying to process what he just said. It all made sense now why Seijirou was here. He was the one my father spoke to over the phone that one day. He was the one who wanted a payment in return for information over Kirito's location. The payment was me. Seijirou only wanted to get information about what happened during the two years that 10,000 people were trapped in a death game known as SAO. And only I could give him that information.

But did I really wanted to? I knew people were asking questions. They all have been ever since that day the incident happened. For two years, they have asked the same questions over and over. And yet here I was, the answer to their questions. But what would the consequences be if they knew?

"Asuna-san..."

I glanced up at Seijirou to see he was staring at me intensely. His eyes burned with greed for answers. Did I really wanted to tell someone like him what really happened in SAO.

"I promise. I won't use the information for my agenda. I simply just want answers so that we can prevent this from ever happening again," said Seijirou.

"And remember, you still owe me for Kazuto-Kun's location." Added Seijirou.

I bit my bottom lip. Seijirou was right. I did owe him. If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have been able to find Kirito. Seijirou helped me, so now it was time I paid him back. Yet, I couldn't help but feel that Seijirou wasn't saying more than he really needed to say. It was a feeling that continued to gnaw at me.

I blinked and took a deep breath opening my mouth. "I'll tell you everything," I quietly said as images that I have kept to myself flashed through my head.

Seijirou silently nodded and got out a tape recorded. After turning it on, he looked at me and said, "let's begin."

I then told Seijirou everything in as much detail as I could manage. I told him what exactly happened on the first day of the launch of SAO to the last battle that Kirito had fought. Seijirou listened in silence and only spoke when he had a question. He listened to how I described what happened to me as I was trapped in SAO to the first battle I had fought to the friends I had met.

I also told Seijrou how exactly I had met Kirito, the solo player that forever changed me. Seijirou really didn't ask questions when it came to Kirito. It almost seemed like he wanted to learn about Kirito and me telling him this was more than enough.

About two hours passed before I had finished telling Seijirou everything. All he did after the coveration was politely thank me and gave me information on how to contact him if I ever was in trouble or needed something from him. After that, he left leaving me alone in a daze. I had just let out emotions that I had kept inside of me for a long time. It made sense that I felt dizzy.

My father came to check on me some time later only for me to tell him I wanted to be alone. My father didn't say anything, but listened and left. I sat on the chair for what felt like hours thinking back to what happened two years. It made wonder what would have happened if I never decided I wanted to experience SAO.

To be truthful, I was never into games. The reason why I ever picked up SAO was because of my brother. For months, SAO was all he talked about so naturally I began to grow curious. My brother bought SAO on the first day of is launch, but sadly couldn't play it due to an urgent business trip. My curiosity grew too much and I decided to ask my brother if I could play. My brother said yes since playing a VRMMO would be a good experience for me. He laughed saying that I would probably die not even being able to pass the first floor. I paid no attention to what my brother had said until a day later. He was right. I would have died if I hadn't made it my mission to clear SAO nor met Kirito.

I closed my eyes and exhaled. No matter what happened, I wouldn't be discouraged about what happened in the past. It was in the past and now I needed to focus on the present. After all, it was something Kirito would do.


	4. Chapter 4

**I apologize that this chapter is short. I've been a bit busy since school has closed for winter break. Anyway, I'll start to put most of my time into my stories until school starts again. It's been a bit long since I watched SAO, so please bare with me if I don't have all the characters spot on with how they would act. Remember, I'm still learning as I write. Hope you like this chapter and please review. **

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><p>I entered the hospital looking a bit dazed. I had a restless night, but I guess you could say it was normal for me. After escaping the death game, nightmares were always invading my mind. What made it even worse was that Kirito was in most of them.<p>

I walked to the secretory desk and asked for a visitor pass. Of course, didn't bother to ask me if I was okay or if I needed anything. Instead, she gave me the visitor's pass and ignored me after that.

As I walked to the elevator, I recounted my conversation that I had with Seijirou weeks ago just before Christmas. He seemed nice and harmful, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that he was... dangerous. But what was I thinking. There were other things I had to worry about now.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened with a cling. I walked out and continued my way to Kirito's room. When I found myself in front of Kirito's room, I knew right then something was wrong. His door was slightly ajar and I knew right then after this last month that his door was always closed.

I clenched my hand into a fist and opened the door quickly with a purpose in mind: protect kirito. I didn't care what happened to me as long as he was wrong okay.

I dashed into the room and stopped as soon as I saw a man with his back turned in front of Kirito's bed. But I didn't even need to know who it was. I could smell the awful stench that was radiating from him. The man was no other than Sugou, the man my parents wanted me to marry.

Sugou turned and smiled as he opened his mouth. "Ahh Asuna, I was wondering when you would come."

"What are you doing here?" I said through clenched teeth.

"Now now, there's no need to be angry. I just wanted to meet the boy that your father told me all about," Sugou turned his head towards The unconscious Kirito and chuckled. "The question is why are you here Asuna?"

"What do you mean? I came here to see Ki-Kazuto-kun. He's very important to me."

"But we both know your parents don't approve of him." Sugou turned with a new gleam in his eyes. He started to walk towards me smiling deadly.

I squeezed me eyes shut wanting to believe that Sugou was not here and that was just a dream. But then flashes of SAO and Kirito popped into my mind. I was not the same girl I once was letting everyone order me around acting as if I was theirs. No, I belonged to myself. I'm allowed to make my own decisions. And no longer will I run from a cowardly man.

I opened my eyes seeing that Sugou was ready to touch my face with his hand. Summoning all my willpower, I slapped his hand away glaring at him. It sickened me just how disgusting he was.

"You will never touch me AGAIN." I said sternly through clenched teeth.

Sugou looked surprise at my outburst and sighed using his hand to fix his glasses. "So you have changed.. I see... No matter. You will do as I say. After all, I hold His life in my hands. If I wanted to, I could even kill Him with a snap of my fingers."

"W-what do you mean?" I asked.

"What do you think really happened to the 300 people including that boy in front of you?"

I glanced at Kirito then back at Sugou. I only stared at him in silence. I didn't exactly know an answer to his question. Despite what the doctors had said about being a glitch in the NerveGear, I knew it was something else. I was not willing to believe in a simple answer as that. But even I couldn't even find out the real answer when I had no way of finding out exactly what it was.

Sugou smiled at my silence and opened his mouth. "They're in mine world Asuna. A world where I rule as a king."

"Y-your world?"

Sugou only nodded. "Yes my world, so it would be wise if you listen to me if you want that boy to see the real sun again."

I backed towards the wall now as confused as ever. Too many questions were popping in my mind. Did Sugou really caused all this? Did he really trapped Kirito and the other SAO victims in a world of his own. And if so, where exactly where they?

Sugou chuckled at my reaction and inched closer to me picking up a strand of my hair. He pressed it to his nose and inhaled sighing in deep pleasure.

I wanted to slap his hand away and make him regret ever touching me, but I couldn't lift my hand. It wasn't listening to me. Instead, it remained limp allowing Sugou to do what he pleased with my hair.

After what seemed forever, Sugou released my hair. But instead of backing off, he moved even closer with his face just inches from mine. I glared at his eyes with hate and disgust. His eyes didn't hold love and wonder for me. No instead, they burned with a horrible lust for me. It was truly disgusting.

"You know Asuna-san, if you agree to marry me, I'll let the boy go. He's no use to me unlike how you are."

"Then why?" I said wanting to escape this nightmare, "why trap him? What good could that have accomplished for you?"

"You," Sugou simply stated.

My eyes widen and my heart almost felt like it had just stopped. At that moment, I realized what Sugou had meant when he said that. The only reason Kirito was in Sugou's clutches was because of me. No, probably all the SAO victims as well. I was the reason they hadn't woken up. I was the reason they haven't been able to see their families and friends. It was all my fault.

Sugou, noticing my silence from the shock of his words, backed away. He fixed his glasses and smiled evilly. "One week Asuna-san. That is what I will give you. You either agreed to marry me or I will kill the boy right in front of your eyes."

My eyes widen in shock and I wanted to burst in tears. Everything was going so wrong. Everything was falling into pieces. And there was nothing I could do to pick them up and fix them. It was hopeless.

I vaguely heard Sugou as he walked out of the room laughing. By then, I had lost the strength I had held. I couldn't stop shaking or the tears that I had held in for so long. I couldn't stop the emotions that I had fought for so long either: grief, sorrow, hopelessness. It was all just too much.

It seemed like hours before I finally found my strength again. I silently stood up and walked to Kirito sitting down on the chair next to him watching his sleeping face. He looked as if he was in peace, but that was probably far from the truth. Kirito was in trouble and there wasn't anything I could do to help him.

I closed my eyes and laid my head on to Kirito's stomach clutching his hand into my own. I wanted to see Kirito again. Not like this. I wanted to talk to him and tell him everything. All I wanted was just Kirito back safely in the real world by my side.

"Oh Kirito-kun..." I murmured as I silently cried on him, "what am I going to do?"


	5. Chapter 5

**I finally finished this chapter. Took many hours of sleep deprivation, but I did it. Hope you enjoy. By the way, over 1200 views? 27 followers? And 16 favorites? Very awesome for a story that only has five chapters! Thanks so much everyone!**

**Litleo: I'm glad that I portrayed Sugou very well or maybe even better. I was a little worry that I didn't, but thanks to you, that fear disappeared. Thanks so much!**

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><p>I breathed heavily as I stood in front of a cafe that belonged to my friend Agil. I took a few deep breaths before I entered the cafe. It was nearly noon and yet there was no one in the cafe. I took a glance before my eyes settled on Lisbeth sitting at a table. She looked up and waved me over.<p>

I quickly ran to her and placed my hands on the table looking at Lisbeth with an urgent gaze. "Are you positive Lisbeth?

"I'm positive Asuna. Even Agil confirmed it."

I nodded feeling my heart was about to stop. Last night, after Sugou threatened me while on my visit to see Kirito, Lisbeth sent me a text message with a picture. But it wasn't just any picture. It was a blurry picture of a chained male fairy with black wings clutching the black bars of a bird cage. At first, I payed no attention to the fairy, but then I saw his face. He had the same naive face like Kirito-kun. At that point, I started to question whether or not the fairy in the picture was the same Kirito-kun that I had spent two years with in SAO.

"What else did you find about the image?" I asked frantically.

"Asuna, calm down. Take deep breaths. I know this a lot to take in. Even I still can't believe it," said Lisbeth as she placed her hand on mine trying to calm me down.

I stared at her for a few minutes before nodding. I hesitantly sat down at the chair next to her and took a deep breath turning to her. "So what else did you find?"

"The picture that was taken came from a VRMMO."

"VRMMO? You mean like SAO?"

"Yeah. The VRMMO is called ALfiem Online or ALO for short." Lisbeth's hand disappeared under the table and came back with a small box with a cover in her hand. She handed the box to me. I took it and examined it. On the box was a picture of two fairies flying into the distance into the night sky. On the night sky was the title 'ALfiem Online'.

"It's supposedly the land of the fairies."

"The land of the fairies..." I mumbled under my breath. I took my eyes off of the box back to Lisbeth. "I thought all VRMMO were turned away after the SAO incident."

"That's what I thought too, but it's different now. Supposedly it's safer now to dive into the virtual world with the AmuSphere, the safer and improved version of NerveGear."

I nodded. "So ALfiem Online is like SAO?"

"You could say that," said a male deep voice behind me.

I turned too see Agil holding a silver tray of glass cups. Agil was a friend whom I met in SAO. I wasn't as closed to him as I was with Lisbeth, but he was a friend none of the less.

"What do you mean?"

Agil took a seat across from me right next to Lisbeth. He placed two glass cups filled with tea down for both Lisbeth and me. "ALfiem Online is based on superskilling, which stresses Players Skills and encourages Pking."

"Superskilling?" Asked Lisbeth as she picked up the cup and took a sip from it.

Agil looked at Lisbeth. "It means there is no leveling. Not only that, the skills in the game are improved through repetition, and the fighting is dependent on a person's physical capabilities."

Agil then turned to me,"so yes, ALO is like SAO, just with magic thrown in instead of sword skills."

"But what makes it popular is the added feature, flight engine." Added Agil.

"Flight engine?" I asked.

"It's a feature that enables you to fly. From what I heard, you can fly without assistance once you get used to it."

"That's amazing..." Said Lisbeth as she placed her cup down, "so you can actually fly like a real fairy."

I took the photo in my hands and placed it in from of Agil pointing at it. "So where exactly was this picture taken?"

Agil took the tiny box in front of me and flipped it showing a picture of a large map of the game along with a description. Agil pointed at the center of the map. In the center was a tree.

"The picture was taken in a place called Yggdrasil. It's a legendary castle on top of the tree. Basically there are nine races. They all compete to get to the top of this tree first."

"Well why don't they just fly to the top?" Asked Lisbeth as she crossed her arms. I too was wondering the same.

"There's a flight limit apparently."

"Then how where they able to take this picture?" I asked.

"Five players decided to climb each other's backs and try flying to the top rocket-style. They didn't even make it to the lowest branch, but they were able to take a few pictures. One of them was this picture you see here," said Agil as he pointed at the picture of the boy in the birdcage.

Lisbeth stared at the picture on the table and sighed, "it looks just like him..."

I only nodded. Lisbeth was right. The fairy chained up did look like Kirito. Except for the dark black wings draped upon his back and long pointy ears, he looked just like the boy I had dedicated my life to in the death game.

I glanced away from the picture and looked at the box that sat in front of me. I stared at the map for a few seconds before my eyes glanced down and widen in shock. On the bottom was the words 'RCT Progress'. It was where 'he' worked at. 'He' as in Sugou.

I formed my hands into fists and looked up at Lisbeth. "Lisbeth, may I borrow this? I promise that I'll return it to you real soon."

"Of course Asuna, but are you sure? I mean we still really haven't recovered from-"

"I don't care..." I said as I looked away sadly. "If there's a possibility that he's there... Then I have to check it out."

Lisbeth looked stunned, but Agil just nodded. "ALO should be intended to be played with the AmuSphere, but I've heard it's compatible with the NerveGear."

I nodded and grabbed the game's box placing it in my bag. I then got up pushing my chair in. "Thanks so much. I appreciate all of your help."

I pulled on the best smile I could give and turned running out of the cafe. Just as I was about to cross the street, I felt a tug behind me. I turned around to see Lisbeth holding on to my sweater with tears visible on her cheeks.

"Asuna..." She muttered quietly as she silently looked at me. "I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone. If... If there's anything I can do... Please let me know!"

I silently stared at Lisbeth. She had always been there for me and here she was doing it again. Ever since I found out Kirito was in a coma, Lisbeth was the only one I felt comfortable talking to. She always listened to me and gave me the best advices I could ever get. She was my best friend and someone I could always count on.

I smiled and enveloped Lisbeth in a hug whispering softly into her ears. "You're already done enough for me just by being my friend."

I backed away still smiling at Lisbeth. "Bye Lisbeth."

I smiled at Lisbeth one last time and turned taking off. I crossed many streets and many people all the while not allowing myself to turn back to see if Lisbeth was following me. It pained me to see my best friend was shedding tears. And not just for anyone, but for me.

I continued running until I finally stopped in front of my house. I sighed and took the small box out of my bag. I stared at it with renewed hope. Now I understood what Sugou meant by 'his world'. He imprisoned Kirito and the other SAO victims in ALO. And if I didn't do anything soon, he'll kill them. Starting with Kirito, the one who I could never stop loving.

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><p>I opened my eyes and grunted in pain. I had been chained to this cage for so long and yet I was never used to the pain. It was different each time. Sometimes, my whole body felt like it was on fire and other times, it felt like it was drowning in a dark sea. I could never get used to it.<p>

I slowly moved my hands that were bound in chains and gasped biting my lower lip. It was too much. Every time 'he' tortured me, I lost of what little strength I had left. Now, it was all gone. I couldn't even move hands without experiencing pain. I was now weak. Fitting for someone in this position.

I didn't even know how long I had been locked in this prison. The last thing I could remember before I woke up in this prison in chains was watching Aincrad being destroyed. I remembered watching it with Asuna and how contempt I felt with dying alongside with her. But everything went black after the deletion was completed. It seemed like forever until the darkness disappeared. But when it did, I soon discovered I wasn't dead. No, I was trapped in a birdcage. Just bait for the real prize.

I suddenly heard a sound of a door being opened behind me, but I didn't even bother turning around to see who opened it. I already knew who came to pay me a visit. And I already knew that 'he' was going to bring me more pain.

I heard footsteps and a fairy with green eyes, green wings, long pointed ears, and shoulder length blonde hair appeared in my line of sight. The fairy wore a golden crown, a long dark green robe, and a green cloak, both with an emerald-like jewel. The fairy though was only 'his' avatar. To show how much control he had over this world. The avatar belonged to 'him' as in Sugou, a bastard who only thought himself as a god.

I glared at Sugou as 'he sneered down at me like I was trash. In a way, I was. The only reason why I was still alive was because I was useful to him. Once my usefulness was over, I was positive Sugou would end me.

"Hello Puck. Did you have a nice night?"

I kept my mouth shut. I learned the hard way that was all I could do. No matter how much I wanted to make Sugou pay for all he had done to me, I couldn't. I was in chains. I was defenseless. I couldn't protect myself from Sugou. Even if I made a move, he'll just make the pain ten times worse than before.

"What's wrong? Usually, you start saying trash at me."

I glanced down trying to avoid eye contact, but was suddenly grabbed my chin and forced to look at Sugou. He smiled as if he had won a long battle.

"Did you finally lose hope that you'll never leave this place Puck? Did you finally accept the fate that has been forced upon you?"

Sugou leaned in closer still smiling. "Or did you finally accept that you'll never see her again?"

I widen my eyes and pulled myself back from Sugou. Sugou laughed at my reaction clutching his stomach. He laughed for a few minutes before looking back at me.

"Do you want to know something Puck? I saw her yesterday. She looked so lovely..." Sugou sighed in deep pleasure. He had no idea how much I wanted to punch him for saying that. For even going near her.

"And do you want to know what I said to her? I told her that I had you and that I would kill you if she didn't marry me in one week," said Sugou as he began to laugh, "You should have seen her face!"

I clenched my teeth now furious. I wanted to kill Sugou for saying that to Asuna. For making her have to make a choice that I knew she didn't want to make. I just wanted to make Sugou, that sick bastard, pay for even treating Asuna like that.

Sugou noticed how angry I was and grinned. "Oh, did I struck a nerve Puck?"

He walked towards me and sneered down at me. "In less than a week, she will marry me. And as a gift to you, I'll have it recorded and presented to you so that you can watch us be wed over and over again. Why that's the best gift you could ever get from your king."

"You're not a king..." I muttered now as furious as ever, "you're a sick bastard who only thinks he's a king."

Sugou widen his eyes in shock and punched me hard on my right cheek. My head was pushed back by the force of the punch and all I could see was bright spots. Seconds later, I felt even more pain, but this time in my stomach. I gasped and felt Sugou grabbed my hair forcing me to look at him. I tried to look away, but he was too strong.

"Puck, you'll be wise to respect me as your king. If you don't, then I'll just have to end your miserable life."

Sugou smiled as if had won and released me. I closed my eyes as I heard him walking away towards the door. The door opened and then I couldn't hear anymore sound. I took in a deep breaths before opening my eyes.

All I truly wanted was to be with Asuna. But I was trapped. Even though I had wings, I couldn't use them to fly to her. I couldn't even use them to escape this prison. I was truly beginning to lose hope.

I blinked looking up at the virtual sun above me. Even though I was here, at least Asuna was out there free. She could be with her family and have a chance to live in the real world once again. All I hoped though was that she would make the right choice and turn down Sugou's offer.

"Asuna..." I whispered. I closed my eyes now feeling the pain from the punches overwhelming me and drifted off to a deep sleep.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review. They give me a lot of motivation to write even more chapters. By the way, next chapter Asuna will finally be going into ALO. Won't that be fun?<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**I apologize for my long absence. I've just been quite busy since my last update. Anyway, as I promised, here's chapter 6. I will try to update every week. It will be difficult, but I haven't given up. By the way, please forgive me if this chapter doesn't appeal to your taste. Fight scenes are not really my specialty. Thanks for the reviews by the way. I won't name everyone, but please know you are giving so much motivation despite how tough life is for me. Thanks so much! **

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><p>I stared down at the helmet sitting on the palms of my hands. It stared back at me soulless. I couldn't believe I actually was doing this. This helmet was the reason why two years of my life were taken away from me. It was the reason why I had almost died. This NerveGear was my prison that I had nearly escaped. And now I was actually willing to go back to that prison again.<p>

I shakily placed the helmet on my bed and stood up walking to my desk across from my bed. I began to pace back and forth from my bed to my desk. Could I actually do this? Could I actually place the machine that almost killed me on my head again?

I stopped and looked back at the NerveGear sitting on my bed that was blankly staring back at me. I could hear it calling out to me. I could hear it telling me that it was alright. But could I actually trust it?

I sighed and walked back to my bed picking up the NerveGear again. No matter how I felt about this machine, I had to trust it. I had to use it again. At least for Kirito.

I took deep breaths and calmly place the NearGear on me and laid down on my back in a comfortable position on my bed. I stared at the ceiling and closed my eyes. My mind was screaming at me to take the machine off of me and to not say those dreadful words, but my heart was set. I took one last breath and opened my mouth saying two words to start the machine, "link start!"

Instantly, darkness turned into bright colors followed by tests for all of my five senses. After they were checked, my login information was entered. Seconds ticked by before "Welcome to ALfiem Online" was displayed and I found myself in a registration interface in the center of a glowing circle. My eyes searched around the dark room until I heard an artificial voice.

"Welcome to ALfiem Online. Please enter your gender and the name of your character."

A tiny screen popped up in front of me with a keyboard asking for my gender and name. I hastily entered my information. After that was finished, the voice came back as well as a hologram of fairies each with different colors of wings and clothes.

"Now for race selection. Please choose the race that you will be playing as."

I observed each fairy. They all appeared the same, but I knew that they each represented one race. I continued observing each fairy until my eyes stopped at a fairy with both blue wings and hair. I glanced down at the screen in front of me that gave a tiny bit of information about each fairy.

'The Undine; specializes in healing magic and masters of water.'

'Undine...' I thought to myself. I glanced back up at the Undine fairy portrayed in front of me and sighed. There were many other races I could choose from, but it just felt like the Undine race was calling out for me. I shook my head and pressed the selection button on the screen. Instantly, the female voice came back.

"You have chosen the Undine. Your character's appearance will be generated randomly. Is that okay"

I pressed okay without even thinking about it.

"Your character You will be transported to the Undine hometown. Best-best-best-beessstttt."

"Huh?" I asked. I then realized that something was wrong in the system. And from personal experiences, I knew this was something that was not supposed to happen. I began to grow worried. Just as I was about to determine a way out of this mess, I began to see blue sparks surrounding me. They danced around me for several seconds before polygons began disappearing and I was engulfed in darkness.

It felt like hours before I finally saw light. And when I did, I couldn't take my eyes away from the green vegetation that surrounded me. There were many ancient trees that stretched all the way to the dark sky where a golden moon was shining beautifully in the center. The smell of odd colored plants tickled my nose. And the cries of insects and animals could he heard from the distance. My senses were taking all of these and yet they still wanted to take in more.

I smiled and sighed. I was here again. The virtual world. Just when I thought I wasn't going to ever come here again, I did. I really did.

My eyes suddenly widen and I lifted my right hand with my middle and index finger together. Nothing happened. I began to grow frightened and tried the process again. Still nothing happened. Just as I was about to try again, I looked down at my left hand. ALO was different from SAO. So was the menu and flight controller used by another hand?

I shakily lifted my left hand in the same way I lifted my right hand and instantly, a sound occurred followed by the menu window popping up. Many buttons were lined up side by side on the side of the menu. My eyes scanned them until I found what I was looking for: the Log Out button. I pressed it and a warning message popped up asking if I was sure I wanted to log out as well as yes and buttons. I sighed in relief and closed the warning message and my menu window. There were no words how to describe how happy I was to be able to log out. But the fear of being trapped was still in the air.

I blinked and glanced around. I was clearly in a forest, but the artificial voice said that I was supposed to be in the Undine hometown. Was this due to a bug in the system?

Still, I had to at least find a way out of this mess. From observation, I could tell that I was no where near a town. I was too deep in the forest. I could tell from the sounds I could hear and vegetation I could see. With no other options, I quickly decided to check my menu window again for a map. Just as it popped up and I pressed my finger on a button, I couldn't stop myself from crying out.

Displayed on the top of the window was my name Asuna and my race. Below it were my beginning values for my hit points and such. But on the other side of the column was my learned skills. What surprised me though was that I hadn't chose any skills.

Growing curious, I opened the skills window. Several skills were shown on the window. I stared at them trying to understand where they came from when realization hit me. They were the same skills I had spent developing in SAO.

I almost wanted to faint. How could I have the same skills? Was it due to a bug in the system? Not only that, what was I going to do? I was a beginner. It would be abnormal for a beginner player to have these same skills.

I sighed now feeling hopeless and closed my menu window. No matter how much I wanted to look at it, this had to be due to a bug. And it wouldn't be good if I contact a GM. They would find out that I was one of the SAO victims which was something I didn't want.

Still, I couldn't let this problem get the best of me. I didn't come here for this. I came to look for Kirito.

But I didn't even know where to begin. Sure, I had a map, but it couldn't even help me. I still had no idea where I was nor how I would reach Yggdrasil. Minutes ticked by before I decided that I at least needed to find my way out of this forest. It was my best option.

I started to walk while observing my surroundings. It felt weird being back in the virtual world and yet natural. I wasn't really struck how much unusual it was for me. In fact, I was somewhat used to it. I guessed being stuck in a death game for two years was due to this.

I continued walking until I heard male voices from my right. Immediately, I went into a fighting stance ready to take my sword out of its sheath. If what Agil said was true about how PKing was actually encouraged here, I had to be wary of other players. Even if they didn't look threatening.

I took a few more steps when I felt my arms being grabbed from behind. I began to kick and punch the player who grabbed me, but their grip was too tight. From behind, I could hear them speaking, "I've found one! Looks like she was spying on us!"

From above, I could hear another voice. "Good Tachi. Looks like you're not useless after all."

I looked up to see three men in red armor wearing helmets with red wings cascading from their backs. Two of them had swords in their hands while the other had a large spear. From observing the one in the center, I quickly decided that he was the leader of the group that just ambushed me.

The men landed and the one in the center walked towards to me. He leaned closer to me studying me for a few seconds. He sighed walking back looking at the player who was holding on to me. "You idiot. She's not a Slyph. She's an Undine."

"Eh?! But I thought she was! Please forgive me Kagemune!"

Kagemune? I looked at the male leader now understanding that it was his name. Kagemune shook his head again and looked back at me. "Tell me girl. Why are you here? You're clearly a newbie. Shouldn't you be back in your territory?"

I kept my mouth closed. There was no way I was going to tell these guys anything. Not the way they were treating me.

Kagemune chuckled and pointed his spear at my neck. "No matter. You've seen us and that is a more than a good enough reason for me to kill you. Sorry girl, but this is how things go. But don't worry, you'll learn."

Kagemune rose his spear and prepared to strike me. Knowing I wouldn't be able to evade his attack, I closed my eyes. It was the only thing I felt like I could do.

I waited for what seemed forever for the attack that would end me to come, but did. Curious, I opened my eyes only to be surprised. Kagemune was swinging his spear in the air at a female with yellow hair who was blocking it with her sword. But this female had white and green clothing. Not only that, she had green wings

"How dare you raise your weapon at her! She's a beginner!" Yelled the female girl.

Kagemune chuckled, "well they have to learn one way or another. Anyway, why would you defend her? She's not even the same race as you."

The female girl looked back at me and smiled and then glared back at Kagemune. "I can't abandon someone whose in trouble. It's not right."

Kagemune began to laugh for several seconds before gripping his weapon tightly. "Fine, I'll just get rid of you first. After all, you're in the way of what we want."

The female girl glared at Kagemune before flying straight at him with her sword in front of her. She clashed with Kagemune exchanging blows at him. As they fought, I noticed the grip that the man behind me had on me disappeared. I looked behind to see a yellow-haired boy wearing green clothes clutching a small dagger. Beside him was a tiny red flame.

"Hey! You! What are you doing?!"

The yellow-haired boy jumped and grabbed my wrist forcing me to follow him. "Come on! We have to go!"

"But, what about her?" I asked as I glanced back at the battle that was taking part in the sky.

"Leafa-chan will be fine. Right now, we need to get to safety. I was lucky that I was able to strike that Salamander down. If his back wasn't turned, I probably wouldn't have had a chance against him."

"But... Why would you help me? You don't even know me..."

"Well... Leafa-chan just felt like we needed to help you... I mean didn't you hear her? She couldn't abandoned someone who was in trouble."

"Leafa..." I thought to myself. I then smiled reminiscing about that day. The day I decided to pick up a sword and use it to fight in order to be free after so many days of locking myself away from others crying for something that was taken away from me. But after fighting for so long, my weapon broke and I was defenseless. The monsters were preparing to deliver their final blow, but then he saved me. He didn't have to, but he did. He couldn't abandoned me. He had to help me. And now, I had to help the female fairy who decided to help me.

I pulled my wrist away from the boy's grip and turned towards the armored msn who were running towards us with their weapons drawn. I grabbed my sword and calmly held it in front of me ready to strike. Behind me, I could hear the boy who helped me speaking in a worried voice. "What are you doing?! They're too strong for you! You'll get yourself killed!"

I paid no attention to him and readied myself to attack. My opponents may be bigger and stronger than me, but I had more experience than them. I fought for two years straight in a death game. Even if they thought they had the upper hand, I was the one who truly had the advantage.

I closed my eyes and sighed before opening them now glaring at my opponents. The two males stopped charging at me now noticing my expression. They knew something was wrong, but it was too late. I gripped my sword and charged at the shocked men striking them down. They had no time to evade my attacks or even block them. It was over for them.

In less then a few seconds, the two males bursted into ashes and disappeared leaving behind two red balls of flame. I stared at them for a few seconds before looking back at the yellow-haired boy who helped me. He stared at me both amazed and surprised. I turned and began running back towards the sky battle that we left behind. I could hear the boy behind calling for me, but I ignored him. I couldn't let him get in my way.

When I found Kagemune and Leafa, I stopped abruptly ready to attack. Both of the fairies were down weakened and tired. They couldn't barely stand and yet they still wanted to fight?

"Girl, give up. You're weak compared to me."

"I will drive you with me to my grave. Are you scared of the death penalty?"

Kagemune raised his weapon, "I should be asking you the same question."

Kagemune began to charge at Leafa. Noticing that she had no more strength left, I charged at Kagemune without even a second thought. I stroke him numerous times with my blade before he fell onto the ground releasing his weapon. I watched as he looked at me noticing the hatred steaming off from from him.

"Damn you..." Kagemune muttered before he turned into ashes and disappeared. All that was left of him was a tiny red ball of flame.

I stared at the flame for a few seconds before returning my blade to its sheathe. I turned back to see the yellow-haired boy helping Leafa up while she stared at me. After being helped up, she walked towards me with a serious expression.

"Who are you? You're a beginner right? And yet, you were able to beat a group of Salamanders that have been playing much longer than you."

"I'm... Well... Um..." I stuttered as I tried to think of a good explanation. I couldn't exactly tell her everything.

Leafa watched as I stuttered and giggled. "It's okay. At least we're okay." She held out her hand towards me. "I'm Leafa. What is your name?"

"Asuna..." I answered as I took her hand.

"Wait... Asuna? Is that you?"

"Huh?" I asked now confused.

Leafa smiled. "It's me Suguha."

"Eh?!" I cried out not being able to refrain myself from doing so. I was now confused as ever.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! And please leave a review! I greatly appreciate your thoughts of this fanfic!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm back. There's not much to say so here's another chapter. Please stay patient as I try to sort out school and deal with writer's block. These two things are stopping the flow of my creativity and ideas. **

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><p>"So Leafa-chan... You know her?" Asked the yellow-hair Slyph boy as he pointed at me while looking at Leafa as we sat on a small tree that was used as a bridge to cross a small river below us.<p>

Leafa nodded, "I told you Recon, she's a special friend of mine."

After my abrupt brush in with the men who I now knew were part of the nine races called the Salamanders, Leafa asked if she could talk to me. Before she could ask anything though, I had asked her my own questions.

The reason why the Salamanders attacked me was because they thought I was a Sylph. Leafa and Recon, who were Sylphs, were on a mission to deliver money and dropped goods back to their territory. However, a group of Salamanders were secretly waiting for them ready to ambush them. Of course, their plan didn't exactly work out.

I also learned that each race weren't exactly mutual with each other. Since they all shared the same goal of reaching Yggdrasil first, it made sense why the group of Salamanders did what they they were trying to do. They simply just wanted to weakened their opponent.

"Asuna..." I heard from Leafa next to me, "Why are you here? I know it's not my place to dwell in... But you still haven't completely recovered..." Said Leafa as worriedly glanced back at me from Recon.

I looked at Leafa in a daze and then glanced down at the river making a soothing rhythm below us. It still amazed me how much the virtual world sounded and how it looked a lot like the real world. And yet they each had their own differences.

"Asuna..."

I blinked and looked back at Leafa. She at least deserved an explanation. She was my friend. "I'm looking for someone... I found information that led me to here..."

"Someone? Who.. Who's this person you're looking for?" Asked Leafa as she anxiously stared back at me.

I looked up at the virtual starry night sky. The star twinkled beautifully as they glowed in the void of darkness. I stared at them for a few seconds and then looked back down at Leafa. "Kirito..."

"K-kirito? You mean-"

I nodded my head. "Earlier this morning, I got information making me believe that Kirito might be here in a place called Yggdrasil. Now I don't know if it's true... But..." I then clasped my hands tightly together. I still couldn't believe I allowed myself to do this. What if Kirito wasn't even here? What would I do then?

"Asuna..."

I blinked noticing a slight feeling of warmness coming from my hands. I looked down to see Leafa's hand on top of mine. I stared at her hand for a few seconds before smiling.

"I believe we'll find him Asuna. And if you say he might be here... Then I'll look with you. Just don't go through this alone."

"Thank you Leafa..." I softly said as I smiled at her.

Leafa smiled back and then stood up placing her hands on her hips. Recon with a surprised look followed Leafa's lead and stood up. "Um... Leafa-chan... I don't quite understand what's happening, but... I'll follow your lead no matter what happens."

Leafa smiled. "Thanks Recon." She turned looking back at me. "So Asuna, shall we go? It will take awhile to reach to Yggrasil, but first lets go to a neutral village near here to the north. It would be a great idea to get much better equipment for you for the journey."

"But Leafa-chan, we have-"

"Recon, can I leave you to deliver the money and goods? I apologize if that's too much..."

Recon quickly shook his head. "Of course not Leafa-chan... It's just..." He bit his cheek and sighed. "Just be careful. I'll contact you as soon as I can. There's some things I need to look into in."

Recon turned and waved his left hand. Instantly a small controller appeared in his hand and green wings appeared on his shoulder blades. He pressed a button on the small controller and took off into the night sky soon disappearing from my line of sight.

Leafa smiled at me. "So Asuna, do you know how to fly."

I answered no and immediately, Leafa began teaching me the basics of voluntarily flight. Basically, if I wanted to fly, I had to use a flight assistant that was in the form of a controller. However, there was a trick to fly on my own. I had to imagine that I was growing a virtual bone and muscle from a place a bit above my shoulder blades. The virtual bone and muscle would then become my wings that I had to learn how to move. After some time, blue wings pushed from my shoulder blades. At first they moved awkwardly, but after some time, they were able to move synchronized allowing me to take off into the sky with Leafa soon behind me.

I never knew flying was so breathtaking until I was up airborne staring at the ground beneath me. It was frightening and yet exhilarating. The wind pushed into me whispering into my ears to fly forever. The sky littered with stars beckoned me to follow them. The ground beneath me smiled at me as if I was its child. In a way, I was. The ground had just given me up to the sky. I was free from the roots that held me to it.

"This is amazing!" I shouted as I started to fly in circles and loops.

"I know!" Said Leafa as she flew right by me,"it truly is."

"I wish I could fly forever!" I shouted back at her, "I never felt so free in my life!"

"Neither have I!" Answered Leafa as she broke out in laughs.

She then began to fly in the same similar flight patterns as mine. We did many flips and loops in the air keeping close to each other. We did this for some time enjoying what flight had to offer us until Leafa stopped. She turned to me and said to me in a serious voice, "we should head to that small village I was talking about right now. Our flight limit won't last forever."

I stopped and nodded at Leafa. She was right. In this world, flight didn't last forever. Besides, I didn't have time to have fun. I had only a week before Kirito would die right in front of my eyes. And even if he didn't, I would become a prisoner in Sugou's twisted world. I needed to act now.

I followed Leafa as we flew to the neural village she wanted us to go to. As I followed her, my thoughts began to trace back to the times I spent at SAO. I missed Kirito. No, I couldn't stand the idea of pushing through life without him. Kirito changed me from the girl who was afraid from her own heart to the girl who could stand with her heart proudly. And I in turn, changed Kirito for the best.

After entering the neutral village, Leafa took me to the shops where she helped me to find new equipment that would satisfy me. Some of the equipment included a new outfit and a durable rapier. The starter sword that I had in my inventory wasn't just enough for me. It was good, but I wasn't quite satisfied by it.

After shopping, Leafa took me to a small inn that served food and drinks. The only thing we ordered were small drinks. Even though in the virtual world, whatever you eat won't give your body the necessary nutrients to grow, you still could eat to have fun. In SAO, I wasn't right on the idea of eating, but after awhile I gave in. Eating in the virtual world lessened the hunger that I had and made me believe that I was somewhat still in the real world.

After getting our small drinks, we stayed quiet for awhile. But Leafa soon broke that silence.

"Are you sure oni-chan is here Asuna-san."

I nodded and answered, "I want to believe he is..."

"But Leafa," I said. "What are you doing here? I didn't think you would play a VRMMO."

Leafa glanced down at her cup of juice in her hand. "I actually never wanted to play a VRMMO after the SAO incident. I thought they were dangerous. After all, they trapped my onii-chan for two years, but..."

She smiled. "I began to wonder why my onii-chan loved those games. Why he would separate himself from me and our mother just to dive into those kind of worlds. So I took the first step and dived in myself. Now I understand why my onii-chan loved these games."

She looked at me with determined eyes. "But that isn't enough. I want to become as strong as my onii-chan in this world. That's why I'm here."

I smiled. "I'm glad Leafa... I'm glad that you understand."

We talked for awhile concerning ALO. Leafa taught me more about the basics and territory. In turn, I learned more about her. Leafa never wanted to learn about the virtual world, but she gave it a chance. Just to learn more about her brother and his love for VRMMOs. In a way, I was learning more about Kirito.

After talking, Leafa and I rented a room to ourselves. It was late and we had to log out. The only safe way to log out was in a room rented by an inn. One of the ways to log out was to fall asleep in a bed. It was the safest and comfortable way to log out. Just as we laid down on separate beds, Leafa asked me one last question.

"Asuna-san... What did you think of the virtual world at first?"

I stared at her for a seconds surprised before answering, "at first, I loved it. It was a brand new world that I could be free in, but after I learned that SAO was a death game, I began to think of it as a prison."

I shook my head at those memories that taunt me at the back of my head. "But one day, I met Kirito and he taught me that SAO wasn't a prison. It was like the real world in many ways. One that you have to enjoy while dealing with the good and bad times at your own pace."

Leafa nodded and asked in a small voice, "do you think he's okay? Onii-chan?"

"I want to believe that he is Leafa. And that he'll come back."

Leafa smiled sadly and laid on the bed. A few minutes went by before she was enveloped in a white light before disappearing. She had successfully logged out of the game.

I turned and stared at the dark wall right next to me. It was a time for me to log out, but my thoughts began to trace back to Kirito. I honestly had no idea if he was okay. I wanted to believe he was, but sometimes believing wasn't just enough. I had to see for myself. And if he was in trouble, then I would save him. Just as he saved me back in SAO.

With that final thought, I closed my eyes and felt a familiar warm feeling envelop me. Moments later, I felt a cold breeze gnawing at my skin and voices coming from below that were obviously my parents. I was back in the real world.

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><p>"Papa?"<p>

I opened my eyes and looked to my left to see a tiny little fairy at the other side of the cage giving me an intense look. The little fairy or navigation pixie, was my ingame daughter whom I and Asuna had adopted during the events in SAO. Like me, she was trapped here in this new world. Just not in a cage like me.

"Yui?" I asked quietly just enough for her to hear. I didn't want anyone to find out that she was here. If Sugou knew she was here, he would use her to his advantage. There was just no way I wanted her to be involved. I just wanted Yui to be safe away from this prison.

"Papa, are you okay?"

"Yes Yui..." I answered back trying my best not to sound like I was in pain. Just a little earlier. Sugou had decided to send some of his subordinates to pay me a little 'visit'. Their 'visit' consisted of showing me who owned me now and what would happen if I tried to 'fight' back. But by now, I was used to what they had to give me.

"Papa, I'm sorry... If only I had admin privileges, I could help you..."

"Yui, you're doing all you can. Don't blame yourself. I'm okay."

About a week after I discovered I was trapped in this cage, I discovered Yui. Yui was stored in my NerveGear and somehow was able to be revived here. But unlike in SAO where she had admin control, she had been reduced to the status of a navigation pixie where she could only navigate me where to go and what other's information were. That was all Yui was capable of doing.

"Papa..." Yui glanced down and looked like she was about to cry. I knew her too well. She felt hopeless. Just how I was feeling. But I couldn't let her abandon hope.

"Yui it's okay. We will escape. You just have to find a system control. That is our ticket out of here and back to Asuna."

"I'm sorry papa, but I can't seem t find one. Most of the rooms here can't be accessed. And I can't go to the town below for help. There's a barrier that preventing me from doing so."

"I know Yui, but we have to try something." I said while doing my best to turn to the locked door to my cage. Sugou didn't know, but I had been secretly watching his every move. Including his hand that typed in the password to unlock this door. I had almost memorized the code and just need a few numbers. If I could just get out of these shackles and unlock the door, then Yui and I had a chance. A chance that I didn't want to slip by.

"Yui, do you think you could get me out of these shackles when the time comes?"

Yui looking puzzled answered, "I..I think so papa. But... What about the door?"

"Don't worry about that Yui. Just stay hidden until I give you the signal to unlock these shackles. I'll leave it up to you how to do it. Once I'm out of this cage, we'll find a system console. And we will get out. I can promise you that."

"Papa..."

I smiled and turned towards the sky. I wasn't going to give up. Not when I knew Asuna was still out there in the real world. For all I knew, she could be by my side holding my hand waiting for me to wake him. And if that was the case, I didn't want to her keep her waiting. Even if it meant placing my life on the line, I was going to see her again. That was a promise I was willing to make.

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><p><strong>Thank you for your patience. It really lessens the stress I have from dealing with so many things at once. <strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's another chapter. You will find this chapter different from the rest since I added a new person's point of view. Please understood that I did this on purpose since this character is a main character. Her thoughts and views are needed to make this story sound sense. Not only that, it's fun writing in her point of view. **

**I understand if this chapter seems like a filler, but it was necessary to write this. It gives you a chance explore the thoughts of another character and let's you see Asuna's relationship with her parents (mostly her mother). I promise I'll make it up to you guys with a little more action next chapter.**

**Reishin-Amara: I haven't planned that too far ahead but my idea is for Kirito to use the system console to grant Yui axcess beyond the barrier since she doesn't have the clearance to do so. I got this idea when in the anime, Yui nor Kirito could g****et past the barrier. I'm pretty sure Sugou put that barrier up to prevent anyone from flying up or to fly down. **

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><p>After changing into my school uniform afer kendo club, I headed out of the school with my bamboo sword held loosely in my hand. There were not many people around since most of them were in class still.<p>

I continued walking in the empty school yard to where the bikes were tracing back to what happened yesterday. I didn't expect the girl that I and Recon saved to be Asuna. I actually didn't even expect that she would come into ALfiem with the purpose to find Kazuto. It made me worried to think about though. Asuna hadn't fully recovered yet. And as far as I knew, her mental and emotional state was far from perfect. How could she do this knowing that she might get hurt in the end?

I stopped and clutched my bamboo sword. But I knew why Asuna would go through this extreme. It was all for Kazuto. In a way, I would have done the same thing. I understood Asuna's feelings and actions. And even if I didn't agreed with them, I would support her the best way I could.

"Leafa-chan!"

I blinked snapping out of my thoughts and turned my head to the direction where the voice came from. In the distance to my left was a somewhat-thin boy running towards me. He had short black hair and wore glasses. For some odd reason, his eyebrows were lowered more than usual.

The boy stopped running as soon as he was close to me. "Leafa-chan, I'm glad I've found you."

"How many times have I told you about not calling me that here." I said as I placed my right hand on my hip with a firm glare.

The boy softly chuckled. "S...sorry Suguha-chan."

I tightened my grip on my bamboo sword. The boy saw this and corrected himself quickly. "I apologize Kirigaya-san..."

I smiled and loosened my grip on my bamboo sword. "Why are you here Nagata-san?"

"I needed to talk to you about something urgent. Are you free today?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm going to Aarun."

Aarun was a great neutral city that was close to the world tree that towered in the center of ALfiem. It would take at least a few days to reach it since most areas were not possible by flight.

"Aarun?!" Asked Nagata in a shocked voice. "Why now?"

"That's none of your concern Nagata-san."

Nagata painfully drooped his head and sighed in resentment. "Are you going with her? That Undine we met yesterday?"

I nodded. "She's a friend and I have to help her. I'm sorry."

Nagata shook his head painfully. "It's okay. I understand. It's just there were so many times when I wanted to take you to Aarun with me, but you always refused. Now here you are going with someone we've just met."

"Nagata-san..."

I bit the inside of my cheek. I always tried to ignore it, but it was always visible. Nagata had a little crush on me. And because of that. I always tried to distance myself away from him even refusing his proposals about taking me to see places. There was already talk about me and him around school. I didn't want to let others think we were a couple.

"I'll have to tell Sigurd that you won't be coming to the hunt today then."

"A hunt?" I asked.

Nagata nodded. "It will be in some underwater caves where Salamanders don't rarely go to," he smiled. "To be truthful, I'm happy that you won't be participating."

I stared at Nagata as he smiled confused. "What do you mean?"

Nagata blinked and shook his head. "Nothing! Just forget about what I said. I-I have to go Sugu- Kirigaya-san! Bye!" Nagata turned and ran disappearing around the corner of the school building.

I blinked and sighed. I turned and continued my way to where the bikes were located at. Even though Nagata-san had a crush on me, I didn't allow it to get in the way of our friendship. After all, he was the one who showed me the world of ALfiem Online.

When Kazuto was in a coma for those two years, I immediately made it my mission to learn more about him and his love for VRMMOPRG's. To do this, I had decided to try one out for myself. But since I didn't know anything too much about them, I had went to Nagata for help. After talking to him about what VRMMO I wanted to play that wouldn't disrupt school and kendo, he recommended me to play ALfiem Online, a game that you could play at your own pace and on how good your skills were. Nagata became my mentor, but eventually I surpassed him. In return for playing ALfiem, I got to learn more about Kazuto. Although I don't fully understand him yet, I'm starting to little by little.

I found where my bike was and hopped on. I began to pedal towards home ignoring the crowds of people doing their tasks. I had to get home and get onto ALfiem. After all, I made a promise that I would escort Asuna to Aarun after she had asked a little earlier this morning.

Once I got home, I placed my bike away and went inside. I quickly ran into my room and unchanged out of my school uniform into casual clothes that would be comfortable for me to wear while I dive into ALfiem. After changing, I walked out of my room to 'his' room to take a peek at it.

I silently opened the door and studied the room. It was dark and was empty expect for the bed and the complex computers that was on his desk. I stared at the room tracing back to that day. I still wondered what would have happened if I had stayed instead of going to kendo practice. If I had stopped Kazuto from going into that death game. Would things be any different? Would Kazuto be here awake and well instead of in a comatose state?

I shook my head. I still blamed myself for what happened. I still had second thoughts about what I should have done, but I had always pushed those thoughts away. What was done was done. It pained me that two years were taken away from Kazuto. And it still pained me that I couldn't spend any of those two years with him.

I rubbed my eyes after noticing that my cheeks were starting to feel a little wet and closed the door turning so my back was against it. I placed my head against the door and began to think about that day I learned Kazuto wasn't my biological brother. I hadn't expected it really. Ever since I was little, Kazuto had always seemed like a brother to me. I never suspected him not actually being my actual brother. But the evidence had always been there. I was just to ignorant to notice them.

I sighed. Kazuto knew before me. That I knew. It was only a few years before he went into SAO that I began to notice how distanced he was from me and our mom. He began to lock himself away in his room and spent his days tinkering with computers. It was his way out from the truth. The truth that his parents were dead.

I blinked and walked back to my room. I couldn't do this to myself. Even though Kazuto wasn't here, he wouldn't want me to feel like this. Even when I really wasn't his sister.

I sat down on my bed and picked up the AmuSphere that was right by it. I began to examine it in my hands. My mom was horrified when she learned that I wanted to use this technology. The same technology that took Kazuto away from us. But for some odd reason, she allowed me to. She actually allowed me to use the AmuSphere. I still wonder to this day why she decided to allow me to use it.

I placed the AmuSphere on my head and laid down in a comfortable position. It was time for me to go that world. The world where I was starting to belong in. Seconds ticked by before I said those words that would transport me to ALfiem.

"Link Start!"

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><p>I sat in silence in the dining room at the table across from my mother and father. My father was filling out paperwork and my mother was eating the dish that was prepared for us. I however wasn't eating. My throat felt scratchy and I felt exhausted. I wanted to leave. I wanted to go back to ALfiem.<p>

"Asuna, what were you doing last night. It was quiet." Questioned my mother as she set her fork down staring at me.

"I was asleep." I said. I couldn't tell my parents what I was doing. They would stop me in fear that I would get trapped again. Of course it wouldn't be to protect me. It would be to make sure I would marry a man of high society.

"That is good. I understand you haven't fully recovered yet?"

I nodded. "No mother."

"Are you still seeing that boy?"

"Yes." I said not even hesitating to answer. Of course I was seeing Kirito. I loved him and wanted to make sure he was alive in fear of me finding him one day to be dead. I couldn't live with myself if that were to happen.

"Asuna, you should forget about him. He is not rich and suited for you. He is just a poor meager boy that happened to catch your attention." My mother picked up her cup and took a sip placing it down, "Instead of seeing him, you should see your fiancé more.

"But... I thought..."

"Your father only temporary called off the engagement just to let you see that boy as gratitude since he saved you. But in a week, the wedding will happen. I've already decided on the color of your dress and flower arrangements."

I stared at her in shock. I couldn't believe what she had just said. I had thought the engagement was off. That I was at least free for a little while until I could save Kirito. But I never was. My parents fooled me. They were only trying to let me see blissful dream I could never have. And I was too blinded to see the truth.

"Besides Asuna. I will not be having you see a boy that cannot support you financially. You will marry a man that will guarantee you an adequate future."

I didn't say anything. Instead I bowed my head trying to hide my face. I didn't want want to look at my parents. Not when I could barely hold myself back from shedding tears.

"May I be excused?" I asked.

Not a sound was heard for a few seconds, before I heard my mother answered, "Yes."

I got out of my chair and pushed it in. I began to walk out of the dining room when my mother interrupted me.

"Asuna, starting today you will not be seeing that boy ever again."

I said nothing and walked out closing the door behind me. As soon as I closed it, I took off for my room and entered it closing the door behind me. I locked it and stood there for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground in a tight ball. I began to cry to myself not caring if anyone heard. Hope was simply starting to drift away out of my reach.

After what seemed like hours, I lifted my head and glanced at the NerveGear sitting on my bed gazing back at me. There was nothing I could do to stop the events here, but in ALfiem, I could do something. And if that was the case, then I had to spend as much time as I could there without thinking about the real world. It would hold me back from seeing my real goals.

I silently got up and walked to my bed. I picked up the NerveGear and placed it on my head laying down. I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before I began to think of Kirito. He was the only person that made me smiled happily. The only person who I knew that could take all the pain away. He was the one I only loved.

I closed my eyes and called out those two that would bring me to the virtual world away from this nightmare.

"Link Start!"

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review. If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them.<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the next chapter everyone. Please forgive me if I've been keeping waiting for too long. But I've decided that I will be posting one chapter every one to two weeks. It will mostly depend on how busy I am with school. **

**Now with that situated, I want to apologize. I said that there would be action in this chapter, but not as much as I wanted due to how this chapter progressed. But don't worry. There's definitely going to be action in future chapters. Do don't be too disappointed. **

**By by the way, thanks so much for all the great reviews. Reading them has made me get so much motivation and pleasure. I can promise you that I'll try to write each chapter as best as I can. **

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><p>I opened my eyes and noticed that I was in the room Leafa and I had rented last night. To my surprise, Leafa was no where in sight. I had asked if she could show me the way to Aarun, a large neutral city that was close to Kirito was, since I still had no idea where most locations were. Leafa had said yes giving me a time to meet her. I had thought that maybe she had wanted meet me here at the inn but maybe I was wrong.<p>

I walked out of the inn and found myself in front of a large crowd of players either walking to shops to look for equipment or having conversations with other players. Most of the players were not even the same race.

"Asuna!"

I lifted my head and turned to my right seeing Leafa walking towards me waving her hand. I waved back happy to see a familiar face. Even though this was a neutral village, I still didn't quite like the atmosphere here. It felt tense.

Leafa stopped in front of me smiling. "Hi Asuna. So are you ready to go to Aarun?"

I nodded. "I'm ready."

Leafa nodded and looked back towards the players that walked by us deep there worlds. "You know... I don't know why, but... I feel like I'm going on a journey that will make me more free than I have ever felt."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I stared at her confused.

Leafa shrugged her shoulders chuckling. "I'm not quite sure myself. Anyway, let's go."

Leafa spread her green wings and took off for the skies with me not too far from behind. We flew in unified movement trying to make it one of our goals to stay close together. From what Leafa told me, being too far away from each other would increase our chances for an attack since we would be too far away to support each other in a fight.

Eventually, after many small monster battles in the Ancient Forest, we made it to the mountain area that we had to cross to get to Aarun. The mountain from the outside made it look very large and empty. From the entrance, I could tell it would be very dim and that it would be difficult to cross given how narrow the tunnel was.

"Is this tunnel long?" I asked.

Leafa nodded while stretching her limbs. "Yes. But we should be able to rest in the middle of it. There's suppose to be a neutral mining town in there."

"But we'll have to reduce our arial time though."

"Why?" I ask confused.

"Height limit restricts flying. See the mountain," said Leafa as she pointed at it. "We can't fly higher than it. That is why we have to take this cave tunneled through the mountain. Which is why this is a dangerous place to travel from Sylph territory to Aarun. Truth be told, this is my first time here too."

"Anyway, we should get going. We need to get to that neutral town soon since it's almost sundown in the real world."

"Okay," I said before we entered the cavern. Just as I suspected, there was not that much light. As we inched farther and farther away from the entrance, it began to grow darker and darker. But I wasn't afraid. I felt contempt kneeing Leafa was there beside me and that I wasn't alone.

We continued to walk through the cavern in silence until I heard something hitting the ground lightly behind me. Immediately in response, I grabbed Leafa"s wrist and pushed her into a nearby hallow area with myself not close behind. I glanced back before looking back at Leafa whispering in a soft voice. "Someone is behind us."

Leafa nodded. "I know. I'm going to cast a spell to make us look invisible towards others. Hopefully, they'll past us without seeing us."

Leafa raised her left and used a magic incantation. Immediately after, a green light wrapped us and our vision turned green-dyed. But I knew that this was one of the effects of the spell that Leafa casted.

We stood together in silence for a few minutes before a small, red bat could be made out in the distance. I stared at it in awe and confusion. I had expected to see a player or two. Not a bat.

But Leafa's reaction wasn't like mine.

"Oh no! Asuna! We have to destroy that bat quickly! It's a high level magic Tracer Seracher!" She cried out as she jumped out of our hiding place lifting the Concealment magic.

The bat, spotting us, began to fly towards the opposite direction. But before it could get too far, Leafa raised her hands and and began to chant a lengthy incantation. After chanting it, she released numerous emerald needles from her fingertips at the bat. The bat tried to dodge each needle, but it was no use. Eventually, the needles struck the bat causing it to fall to the ground. As it fell, a red flame enveloped the bat before long making it disappear. A few seconds went by before Leafa quickly turned to me both fearful and worried.

"We have to run towards the city!"

"What do you mean?" I questioned. I had no idea why she looked so fearful.

"Whoever sent that tracer will know was destroyed. And judging by the tracer's fire properties, it most likely belongs to a-"

"Salamander..."

Leafa nodded. "Which is why we can't waste any time."

Leafs grabbed my hand and we began to run blindly through the dark tunnels with the sound of footsteps behind us. As Leafa led me through the tunnels, my thoughts began to travel back to that time I battled with those Salamanders. Were they here because they wanted revenge or was it because of something more sinister? I mentally shook my head. Whatever the case, it wouldn't be good for both me and Leafa.

Eventually we reached the end of the tunnel and the darkness that had been surrounding us was replaced by the light. In front of us was a large lake with a bridge above it for crossing. At the other side of the bridge was the neutral mining town Leafa was talking about. After spotting it, Leafa and I began to ran on the bridge with one goal in mind: to make to the town. Just as we arrived at the center of the bridge, two sparks of light passed over us in high speed. They stopped about a few meters in front of us creating a large rock wall from the ground. I stared at the wall in both awe and disbelief while Leafa right next to me swore:

"This is bad."

I turned from the rock wall towards Leafa noticing how worried and fearful she was of the situation. I was too. The stone wall was blocking the only path to the town.

"What are we going to do?" I asked Leafa.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Only magic attacks can destroy a rock wall like this," said Leafa as she gestured at the rock wall in front of us with a frown. "But it's just that we don't have enough time for that."

At the moment, we heard footsteps behind us. We turned from the rock wall to see a large group of Salamanders garbed in red armor. They stopped as soon as soon as they were close enough with their weapons raised.

From the size of the group of Salamanders in front of us, I knew we wouldn't be able to make it. They were too many of them to take on. At that point, I began to look for a solution to this dilemma when I remembered something. We were above a lake. And if we couldn't get to the town on this path, maybe we could dive into the lake.

"Leafa," I said as I stared at the large group of Salamanders, "can we dive into the lake?"

Leafa began to shake her head. "That's suicide! There's a high level sea monster in there. Besides, we can't unless we have..." She stopped talking and glanced at me for a few seconds before smiling. "How could I have forgotten? Asuna, we have a chance to make it out of this situation alive now."

I nodded. "Then let's do it."

One of the Salamanders took a few steps towards us and pointed it weapon at us. "Give up and come quietly and we will not harm you. If not, then we will be forced to harm you. Understand?"

Leafa glanced at me and I nodded back understanding what she wanted to do. We had to dive into the lake in a quick way that wouldn't kill us. And Leafa was going to create a diversion that would allow us to get to the lake.

Leafa took a step forward to the Salamander in front of us and frowned. "We won't fight. But there is one thing you need to know though."

"And what is that?" Asked ye Salamander.

Leafa smiled. "We don't give up." Leafa raised her hand and chanted a spell. Immediately after, five boomerang like blades of green light appeared being sent at a high speed at the group of Salamanders. They had no time to intercept the attack and took it head. The attack caused a large boom and smoke appeared in effect of the attack. As I observed the damage, Leafa took my hand and led me to the side of the bridge.

"We don't have that much time. The smoke will clear very soon from my attack. Can you cast that water spell?"

"I'll try." I said.

Despite the fact that I had never once casted a spell before, it felt like I already knew how to. I raised my hands in front of me and chanted the incantation that would allow us to breath in the water. Immediately after, a blue light wrapped us. Leafa smiled after the incantation and turned towards me.

"Let's go."

We took each other's hands and jumped in the deep blue lake.

As soon as I felt myself in the water, I had expected that odd feeling of not being able to get a breath of air. A feeling that told you that any minute now, you could die in an endless sea of darkness. But that feeling never came. Instead, I felt oddly relaxed calm. I could breath without any fear of drowning.

Leafa glanced around for a few seconds before sighing in relief.

"We should be okay. The sea monster that lives here doesn't appear to be anywhere near. But we should hurry just in case if it does come."

I nodded and I began to swim. A few seconds went by before I noticed Leafa wasn't next to me. I turned my head to see she was in the same place with flushed cheeks. I swam back to Leafa now a little worried.

"What's wrong Leafa?"

"I... I-I can't swim..." She mummbled embarrassedly.

I stared at her for a few seconds before bursting into a fit of giggles. Leafa, seeing my reaction, flushed her cheeks even more.

I stopped giggling and held my hand towards Leafa. "Don't worry Leafa. I'll help you. Just take my hand."

Leafa took my hand and I began to kick my feet with her by side. As I swam, Leafa began to copy my movements in a rather awkward way. But as time went by, she began to get a little better.

We swam for a fair amount of time before the ground underneath us became steeper. As it became steeper, a large tunnel with large bars could be seen. From first glance, I could tell it was made to keep the sea monster. But I also could tell that it couldn't block fairies out since the bars were not too narrow.

I swam to it with Leafa and we went inside the tunnel with no trouble. We began to swim in the tunnel in silence for some time until we found the end of the tunnel rising to the surface. We swam to it and squeezed through the small opening and continued to swim to the top. Once we reached the top, we popped our heads out of the water finding ourselves in a very large fountain surrounded by small buildings ran by PCs. We continue to stare at this small town in wonder until Leafa broke that silence.

"Leafa! We made it! This is the small small mining town! We actually made it!"

I nodded in relief. It was a surprise that we were able to make it this far. We had no confrontation with the sea monster and the Salamanders didn't follow us. We were okay. But for some reason, I had a sinking feeling that eventually we will hit a roadblock.

Leafa and I got out of the large fountain without being spotted since there were no other players around. We walked to a bench and sat down to catch our breath. As we were resting, Leafa lifted her left hand and her window popped up. She began to check some things.

After a few minutes, she turned to me with concern. "Recon has been messaging me. I tried contacting him, but he's offline."

"Maybe you should try contacting him in the other side? I mean that is if you know him."

Leafa glanced down and began to think in deep thought for a few seconds before nodding. "Okay. I'll try that. Can you watch over my body Asuna?"

I nodded. "Of course Leafa."

She smiled and pressed some buttons on her window making the log out button pop up. She pressed it and immediately, light envelope Leafa. Seconds later, the light disappeared and her body was left behind without her mind. I stared at her body for a minute before I turned towards the sky. I had just overcome this challenge. But that doesn't mean that it would be the only one. And if it wasn't, do I have the power to overcome those challenges in the future?

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Reviews are very much appreciated. ^.^<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**I am so so so sorry for not updating this story. I did not forget. It's just school got so busy with finals and exams that I just couldn't find the time. With summer on the way, I hope that I can wrap this story up. I also have other ideas for other stories. **

**By the way, thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. I love it when people like or kind of like what I'm writing. **

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><p>When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at a pitch black ceiling. I blinked trying to readjust to the darkness. Since I had dived in ALO, I had not given it any thought to see what time it was.<p>

I slowly sat up and took off my AmuSphere placing it right next to me. From outside, I could hear a storm brewing. Droplets of water were being thrown at my window and the wind was making a sickening howl. It was something I did not like to listen to. I got off my bed and walked to my desk where a large lamp stood perched near it. I clicked the lamp on and grimaced at how much the light made my eyes hurt. In a way, it was natural since I was in the dark for many hours.

I sat down on the chair near my desk and pick up my phone turning it on. It lit up displaying a message that notified me that I had 12 missed calls. Just as I was about to call back, my phone started to shake while making a gentle humming sound. I didn't even have to look at the name to see who was calling me. I already knew who it was.

I pressed the call key and placed the phone right by my ear. "Hello Nagata-san?"

"Suguha-chan! I'm so glad you finally picked up!" I heard Nagata saying in the other end of the line. Surprisingly, he sounded relieved.

"What is it Nagata-san? I'm busy dealing with in-game stuff."

"I know Suguha-chan, but this is really important! Sigurd sold us out! Not just us! He even sold lord Sakuya-san out!"

I raised my eyes. "What do you mean he sold us out? Explain everything Nagata-san."

I heard silence from the other end for a few seconds, before I heard Nagata's voice again. "There's no time, but... Well, didn't you feel it was suspicious when we were attacked yesterday by those Salamanders?"

I thought back to what happened yesterday. It was true that it was indeed weird that we were attacked. After all, what we were doing was supposed to be a secret. No one was suppose to know of it. Not even the Salamanders.

"What are you getting at Nagata-san?" I asked now curious what he was saying.

"Remember before we were attacked that Sigurd left our party to scout for other players?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with any of this?"

"Suguha-chan, think about it. Sigurd isn't the type of person to do that. He usually sends someone to scout for him while he stays to lead the party."

"That is true..." I said as I have it some thought. Sigurd was a capable commander, but he was too self-centered. He always was too occupied trying to be at the top. So for him to leave the party to scout was odd. Especially since Sigurd would have had just sent someone to do the scouting for him.

"But what does that mean?" I asked.

"Exactly what I said. Sigurd sold us out. He is working with the Salamanders. Probably since the very beginning."

I tightened my grip on my phone in shock. I never expected something like this. Sigurd was a politician. In the most recent election, he became a candidate. Although he lost, he didn't get angry. In fact, he used his skills to become assistant to lord Sakuya, the current leader of the Slyphs. If one was to look at it, Sigurd had a big impact on the Slyph's center of power. So it was hard to believe that he was a Salamander spy.

"Do you even have evidence to prove this true?"

"Remember how I said that I was going to go on that hunt Sigurd organized for us? I lied. I didn't. Something was bugging me about what happened yesterday, so I decided to spend the whole day following Sigurd using my transparency spell."

"And what happened?"

"I tracked Sigurd to a back alley where I saw him put on an invisibility cloak. Right then, I knew he was up to something, so I continued following him into a sewer. There, I saw two guys who were waiting for him. I just couldn't believe it Suguha-chan. They were Salamanders."

I listened in silence while thinking. I was surprised at what Recon had been up to, but glad at the same time. Finding out Sigurd's true goals probably could answer many questions I still had.

"I listened in for a few minutes. Sigurd told the Salamanders to place a tracer on you. I'm sure it was because he was suspicious as to why you didn't participate on the hunt. But he also said something else. Today, Lord Sakuya and Cait Sith are going to a neutral city to sign some alliance agreements. The thing was that it was supposed to be a secret."

"So..."

Nagata's loud cry covered my mutter. "Sigurd wanted the Salamanders to attack the alliance ceremony!"

I raised my eyes in shock as my breathing felt like it had just stopped. Lord Sakuya was in danger. Not only that, a war between the Slyphs and Cait Sith could happen which could be the end for my beloved home. These thoughts made me grip my phone in anger and shout into the phone's microphone.

"Why didn't you say any of this earlier Nagata-san?!"

"I tried to, but you wanted to hear everything from the beginning."

"Did you even try to warn Sakuya?"

"Well about that... Just before I was about to leave, I kicked a small stone. The Salamanders were able to see through my disguise and hit me with a poisoned arrow. I was able to log off, but my body is still there paralyzed."

"You fool! How could you make a mistake like that?!" I shouted at the phone in anger. Of all the mistakes Nagata made, this one had to be his worst.

"I'm sorry Suguha-chan, but I think there is still time to stop the attack. The negotiations is supposed to take place in the Valley of the Butterflies at one o' clock."

I looked at the clock right next to me. That was only 40 minutes from now. "I understand. I'm going to go and warn them. There's no time to waste."

"And um Suguha-chan?"

"What Nagata-san?"

"Good luck."

I nodded as I ended the call. I threw my phone on my desk and ran back to my bed. I quickly placed my AmuSphere on and laid down making sure I was in a comfortable position. I spoke the only two words that opened the gate to the virtual world. Gradually, my vision begin to darkened with my consciousness being transported to that other world.

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><p>I continued to stare at the starry night sky for a few before I felt movement beside me. I turned to see Leafa standing up from the bench.<p>

"Welcome back Leafa," I said with a smile.

Leafa turned to me and from the look on her face, I could tell something was wrong.

"Asuna... I'm sorry..."

"What's wrong?" I asked now slightly worried.

"I have to go to somewhere. I have no time to explain and I may not be able to come back here. So..."

I stared at Leafa for a few seconds before I gave her a smile. "Don't worry Leafa. Let's talk on the way while we move."

"Ehh?."

"Leafa, I want to know the situation. Something happened and I want to know how bad it is."

Leafa looked like she wanted to argue, but gave in. "Okay. Let's run and talk.

We both began to run through the crowds in the direction of the gate that was the exit out of the small mining town. As we ran, Leafa explained in detail everything she learned from Recon. Just as we were entering a cave, I began to ask Leafa a question.

"Leafa, what exactly would happened if the Salamanders managed to attack the Sylph and Cait Sith Lords?"

Leafa pondered over this question for a minute before answering. "First of all, it would stop the alliance. Not only that, if the Cait Sith Lord were to be killed because of a Sylph spy, they would not take it lightly. Most likely it would cause a war between the Sylphs and Cait Sith."

Just as Leafa finished answering my question, we stopped running finding ourselves in front of the cave's exit. Leafa sighed and turned towards me with a frown.

"That's why... You shouldn't get involved with this Asuna. You have no reason to get involved."

Leafa turned towards the exit pointing at it. "After we get out of this cave, you should take the straight path that will lead to Aarun. You're strong. That's why I think you'll just be fine."

I stared at Leafa for a few seconds processing what she had just told me. She wanted us to split up. Even though she was thinking that it would be for the best for both of us, I knew better. I couldn't leave Leafa when I knew she was in a bad situation. Kirito wouldn't do that.

"I'm sorry Leafa, but I can't go."

"But isn't that what you want?"

I nodded sadly. I wanted to so badly see if Kirito was in Yggdrasil and save him. But I knew he could wait for at least for some time. Leafa right now was my main concern.

"Leafa, I just can't leave you knowing that you're in a situation that you could use all the help in. This may be a game, but everything here is real. Our feelings, our personality, and our actions."

I sighed taking a deep breath. "And a very special person taught me to enjoy every moment here even though it's not real. You have to take each and everyday here as if it were your last. So if I walked away knowing that you may get hurt or worse, I wouldn't be able to handle that. This is real. I want to be friends Leafa and friends don't abandon each other for their self-interests."

Leafa stared at me in shock for several seconds before she gave me a small smile. "Thank you Asuna."

She held her hand out towards me for me to take. I smiled and grasped her hand. It never occurred to me how much Kirito taught me until now. And now that I was here, I was happy for what he did. He taught me valuable lessons that I could never forget. And here I was using those lessons.

Leafa looked back at the exit of the cave and then back at me. "Let's get moving. If we don't hurry, we'll be too late to stop the attack."

I nodded in return and we exited the cave. As we exited, we spread our wings and took off for the sky. As Leafa guided me as we glided, I glanced down at the scenery below us. The green vegetation that spread out miles around and the crystal blue waters connecting to a large river made sure to impress me. I still couldn't believe that I was actually flying. After all, I've never seen anything as beautiful below me.

I lifted my head to the clouds when I saw it: a large truck piercing the heavens from the earth as if it was bridge to the next life. From it's beautiful branches, I could see leaves growing sparkling in the sunlight as if they were magical. I couldn't help but stare at the tree in wonder.

"Leafa," I asked as I gawked at the tree pointing at it, "what is that?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Leafa turning at me then towards the center of my attention. "That's the World Tree."

I only nodded as I continued staring at the World Tree. It was truly such a sight. I couldn't even imagine if I were to stand next to it. It's overwhelming presence made me somewhat afraid and yet safe even though it was several kilometers away.

I continued to stare at the World Tree for a seconds when it dawned on me what we were doing.

"Leafa," I asked as I turned my attention to her away from the World Tree. "How much time do we have remaining?"

"About ten minutes." Leafa said not even turning to look at me. "If I'm guessing correctly, the Salamanders should be in the southwest of us. If that's the case, we have to hurry. Before they get to the conference."

And with that, Leafa began to accelerate with me in tow. We accelerated at great speed for several minutes. Just as we began to slow down, Leafa and I could make out a flock of red armored players looming over a green plateau that was high in the air. On there was a platform where there sat a group of people sitting at a table deep in conversation. They didn't seem to notice the overwhelming danger overhead of them.

Leafa released my hand and stopped gliding paralyzed with fear. "We're too late..." She whispered.

I understand what she meant. There was no time to warn the Sylphs and Cat Siths of the Salamanders and have enough time to escape. There was a high possibility the Lords wouldn't escape this battle without the cost of their lives.

Leafa turned towards me with sad eyes. "Asuna you should go. I appreciate that you've been here with me, but this isn't your fight."

Just as Leafa was about to turn and dive, I grabbed her right hand. "Leafa," I said. "I'm not leaving you. I'm not going to abandon you."

I squeezed Leafa's hand and I accelerated towards the platform with Leafa right behind me trying to argue. I didn't care though what she was saying. I was never going to abandon my friends.

As we inched closer to the platform, the Cait Siths and Sylphs became aware of the huge army of Salamanders. They drew out their weapons, but compared to the Salamanders weapons, their's looked like a child's toy. Just as one of the Salamander's was raising his hand, Leafa and I made on to the ground with a loud boom. Dust spread around us and when it cleared up, I found myself staring at the eyes of the Salamander who was about to drop his raised hand.

He did not look happy.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Oh and I can definitely promise you that there will be action. I apologize for making Asuna seem like she can't fight, but it's just that I've been to lazy with her fight scenes. Now I'm full on gear with what I want her to do next chapter, so I can garuntee you that she will be using her sword<strong>.


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